Music Helps Patients to Relax during Surgery

Theresa Patzschke has already written about the benefits of music in this blog, but new studies keep confirming its healing effects. Surgeons from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, UK, have experimented with music in the operation theatre, finding that it helps the patients to relax during surgery – and the surgeons to do their job better.

The authors of the study, published in the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons, tracked 96 patients, who underwent surgery operations under local anaesthetic. Music was played during the operation for half of them, while the other half was operated under normal conditions. Then, they were requested to fill in questionnaires about their stress levels during surgery. People who were played music stated 29% less anxiety than those who weren’t, while their breathing patterns also showed a more relaxed pace.

Says Hazim Sadideen, lead author of the study: ‘This small-scale work is the first time an attempt has been made to measure the impact music has in this specific group of patients and hints at the need for bigger multi-centre research to establish whether this should become part of standard practice.’

The music played included classical music by Beethoven, Vivaldi and Bach as well as chart hits by Frank Sinatra and others.